Monday 3 December 2018

The Protests in France

So, by now you should have heard about the protests in France, the “Yellow Vest” protests. This is interesting for a few reasons. 

First of all, for those of you who don’t know, there are protests going on in France. They are called the “Yellow Vest Protests” because the people protesting are wearing Yellow Vest. 

Why? Well over there, at least in France every car has to have a yellow vest in it, so you can wear it when your car breaks down. 

Since these protests started due to the high price of fuel, (driven by new and steadily increasing fuel taxes) thus it made sense to wear the Yellow Vests in order to signal that something is really wrong here. 

If all it was, was a group of people protesting over the high price of fuel, the world would just shrug and say “so what, get over it.”

Yet that is not quite it, there is more to it than just the high price of fuel. 

People are protesting due to the high cost of living, made ever more so due to the higher and higher taxes. 

People are protesting and saying that they have had enough, that they can’t make ends meet anymore and that something has to be done to help out Pat Q Public.

This is not a strictly French problem as we have these issues over here. I have routinely said that I should not be seen as a smart person for living in my RV. 

Being an Urban Nomad should not be the best and most effective way to get ahead in this world, yet it is. 

There are more and more people living in cars, RV’s and even tents, just because they can’t afford to rent a place. Or, as in my case they have realized that they can’t get ahead if they do.

The cost of everything goes up each month, yet wages do not (I haven’t had a raise in over three years). 

Employers look at employee wages as a charitable contribution that they can’t write off. 

As in, they should be seen as charitable and giving when they do pay and thanked for paying more . . . out of the goodness of their hearts.

When wage do not go up, but the cost of living does, that extra cost has to come from somewhere. That ‘somewhere’ comes from the Standard of Living that people enjoy. 

Slowly and slowly we cut back on the niceties and pay more and more for the staples and the essentials. Sooner or later, there will be no more niceties, and we start cutting the essentials. 

I see more people doing what I do, and yes a return to the land kind of movement, as more people try to be a self-sufficient as possible (until that is made illegal).

Well, take heart folks, only a few more years until I start my town, and then you can all move to my town, and in so doing, break that cycle. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!  

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